Elementary School Students to Visit Bernards Inn Garden

Tomorrow, Wednesday, May 26th, Chef Corey Heyer will welcome a group of fourth graders from the Willow School in Gladstone, New Jersey, to the Bernards Inn garden for a hands-on learning experience.

The cooperative planting will take place from 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. at the off-site location of the Bernards Inn garden, 601 Holland Road in Far Hills, New Jersey, (rain date is Thursday, May 27th). The students will then be invited back in the fall to sample their work in the form of a picnic lunch, prepared by Chef Heyer, using some of the produce that they will plant together.

The Bernards Inn garden is part of a growing trend of cooking with locally grown produce; and this is the second year that Chef Heyer has worked with Willow School students. This collaboration is ideal for the Willow School, an independent day school that fosters academic excellence and the joy of learning, alongside an exploration of the natural world, and the restaurant at the Bernards Inn, which offers progressive American cuisine, featuring fresh, seasonal ingredients.

The fourth graders will also be introduced to herbs in the form of a mint or basil tasting and will have the opportunity to sample early spring radishes and lettuces on May 26th.

The chefs at the Bernards Inn began growing their own produce over two years ago, and the garden expands with each growing season. The project has helped Chef Heyer to realize a long-time professional dream of having his own garden to draw upon for his menu inspirations.

In addition to great taste and freshness, local gardens offer a number of benefits to the environment – less pollution because produce does not have to be transported, less waste in terms of packaging, and a boost to the local economy. Chef Heyer notes that while there is a huge supply of produce on the open market, it is mass produced and it can be very difficult to find specialty items. The chef takes pride in the vast variety of herbs – more than 40 different types – that are all so unique in their taste and allow the restaurant to be more creative with its cuisine.